It was a dark Sunday night, the trees of a thick forest eerily whispered in the wind. Y/N put his hands on his knees, keeled over and breathing heavily.
"Stop resting- it's dark, Y/N! If you didn't keep taking rests, we would have been at the end of the trail about two hours ago!" She spoke angrily through her monotonous tone. "Not to mention we are lost- you didn't bring the map that I told you to bring! Or the compass!"
He swatted his hand as to brush away her angry remarks. "It's not my problem that I thought you were just going to invite me on a hike to murder me- your not exactly the kind-sociable type." He retorted through laboured breathing. He stumbled back a bit so that his back rested on a tree.
"Well evidently it is your problem because it's your fault that we are lost in the middle of a forest." She spat back. "What did you bring anyway?" She strutted over to his backpack, which he let drop off of his back and picked it up. She unzipped it and instantly turned back to glare at him. The bag was filled with some of the most useless thing she could imagine. "Gummy bears," she uttered, maintaining eye contact with him as she picked up the plastic bag, dropping them on the floor. "A tin of sliced peaches," she grumbled, once more dropping them on the floor. "Two bottles of some fizzy shit- not even one bottle of water," she spat, dropping them on the floor too. Y/N winced- he wouldn't be able to open them for a few hours. "A packet of uncooked pasta- how did you think you would cook this without water and without a pan?" She chucked the packet to the floor as well. She grabbed another item, "Ah, at least you brought a pocket knife I can skin you with." She threw it to the floor. She dug down to the bottom of the bag and pulled out a thick sheet of factory woven fabric. "What even is this?"
With a defected and dejected expression on his tired features, he stood up straight. "A... A hammock." He answered almost timidly.
Her jaw tightened up as she looked into his eyes. It was enough to make his already nervous limbs shake. "You brought a hammock. I tell you to bring a map and a compass- and you bring a stupid hammock. You could have at least brought a small tent." She dumps the fabric back into his back and drops the bag before folding her arms over her chest. "Well, it's better than nothing. I suggest we camp here for the night- did you at least bring two hammocks?" She asked.
His head dropped as he played with his fingers. Wednesday didn't even need Y/N to answer, she could just tell what the answer was without her telling him. "No... Just the one..."
Wednesday's jaw grew crooked as her tongue ran along her teeth. She was pretty pissed. She drew a deep breath. "Really?" She muttered plainly. She let her eyes close as she took a moment to gain some composure. "Okay. It's dark, the sun has long past set and the moon is," she paused to point at the bright moon. "There. I suggest, that maybe we set up camp here... With your stupid hammock- so that we don't get even more lost."
"Right, yeah." He agreed, swallowing hard knowing he had dodged a bullet. "Good idea, Wednesday". He spoke being a little bit of a suckup, having finally caught his breath. He certainly regretted accepting her offer of a hike- if only he were like Wednesday and could see visions of the future. He didn't even know why she wanted him to go with her- it wasn't like the two were particularly close to one another in any way other than distance. They knew each other's names and hobbies and abilities as such but there was not exactly anything special between them (no matter how much he wished there was). He was fairly certain he had twisted his ankle on an exposed tree root so he had that to complain about too. He sighed. "We should probably start a fire too, right?" He questioned, trying to be at least the slightest bit helpful to her.
"Yes, it would be an idea." She answered. "You set up the hammock, I'll get firewood." She told him. In truth, she sort of wanted to get away from him. Not because she was angry with him, (which she was) but rather because she found that he made her feel all tingly inside. Like someone had shoved burning oil through her organs and under her skin. She hoped that by inviting him to the woods and spending more time with him, she might find out what he was doing to her. She wasn't having any luck in achieving that though.
He furrowed his brows and shook his head. He was an elementalist. He could start a fire wherever, whenever. "Wait, I can-"
Wednesday cut him off. "It's fine, I can do it myself- just get the hammock up." She instructed again before turning to walk a few meters away.
He huffed and shook his head. If he'd learned one thing from this experience, it was that Wednesday was quite commanding. He liked it, even if it did frustrate him at times. He pulled the hammock back out of his backpack and lay it out across the ground, unfolding it so that he could get a gage as to how long it was. He then pulled it a few meters to his left where two trees stood tall. He lifted one side about three foot off the ground before holding out his hand. Long, thick vines grew from one of the trees and looped around the ring at the point of the hammock. He moved to the other end and did the same. The hammock was suspended and seemed to sway with the wind. He planted two hands down and pushed with all of his weight. It didn't budge. He smiled to himself.
Wednesday came barreling around the corner with her arms full of a nest of sticks and snapped logs and trunks. She gazed at him and the hammock. "At least you can get something right." She praised monotonously. She dumped the sticks and logs on the dirt floor a few feet away from the hammock. She grabbed the knife and the bag of gummy bears and then tore a small rock out of the dense soil. She opened the packet and dumped the gummy bears on the floor which received an audible groan from Y/N "Gummy bears are pure sugar- also very flammable which makes a good fire starter." She explained simply before slipping the pocket knife open and striking the rock. Nothing happened, not even a single spark generated from the friction. Her cold hands tried again. And again. And again.
"The rock will be too wet." Y/N told her, watching from behind her.
"I know what I am doing." She mumbled, too stubborn to give him a victory. She tried again. Still nothing.
He sighed and shook his head. He snapped his fingers in time with her next strike of the rock and sure enough, the gummy bears were engulfed with flames. "So you do." He replied. "Now can I have my knife back?"
She raised a brow, unsure of what he was going to do before handing him the knife. He got to his knees and grabbed the two tins of peaches before starting to stab and whittle at them, trying to get the top off. He struggled for a while and made little progress.
"Here." She spoke softly, having scooted over to him, she held her hands out for the knife and tins. He complied, handing them over. It was as if she was skilled with a blade as within a matter of moments, the two tins were open. "There."
He smiled a small bit as he grabbed one of the sticks that Wednesday hadn't put on the fire. He wiped them off before snapping it into two, handing one half to her. He took one of the cans before stabbing the broken stick into a slice of peach, bringing it to his mouth. She did the same. They sat in silence in front of the fire, eating their peach slices in relative comfort. Once he had finished eating his tin- which was some time before she finished hers, he leant over to grab the two bottles of soda. Once again, he handed her one and kept the other for himself.
"No thanks." She replied.
He insisted. "Just try it, for me."
She exhaled a deep breath out before twisting the lid off. She took a sip. At first, it was quite pleasant but then the fizz kicked in. He features screwed up in a face of discomfort and pain. "That is vile." She told him. "I love it." She took another sip.
Y/N wasn't sure whether to laugh or be worried for her, instead he chose to give a small chuckle.
Once again the silence settled over the two like a blanket they didn't have- just the crackling if the fire and gentle creaks and whistles of the trees could be heard. "Thank you for lighting the fire." She murmured.
"What do you mean- you did that." He spoke, turning his head to look over at her. The warm light from the fire caught her features beautifully- as if she could look any prettier he thought to himself.
"I know it was you." She told him, locking eyes with him. "Thank you." She repeated.
He nodded in response and turned back to the fire. "Thank you for not murdering me when you had the chance."
"There's still time yet." She deadpanned, her face the epitome of serious.
The two made light conversation until Y/N yawned. The pair decided to call it a night. He was the first to climb into the hammock- Wednesday not trusting his handiwork. It didn't budge so she assumed it would be fine to get in.
"Let me move over a bit." He spoke and as he did, she got in beside him. However, the heavier the weight in the hammock got, the tighter and smaller the space available. Instead of laying beside Y/N, Wednesday ended very much on top of him. Their noses nearly touched and the two lengths of fabric had closed over above them.
"It's... Quite smug." He commented. "Let me get out... I'll sleep on the floor." He told her as he attempted to get up.
"No." She refused, planting a hand on his chest. She wasn't sure what had clicked in her- perhaps the close quarters they lay at, but she rushed him back down. "Stay." She murmured. She shuffled down a little and rested her head on his chest.
Y/N didn't know what to do with his hands. He pursed his lips in a nervous habit before wrapping his arms around her back. She seemed to freeze up for a moment but soon settled into his embrace. While it would have been a cold night, the two were very warm and it didn't take long for them each to fall asleep.
The pair were very much late for their morning classes the next day. Neither made a stir until the early hours of the afternoon, maybe one or two- they slept like babies and it took a lot of explaining when they showed up in such a state and out of their uniforms. Many commented on the fact they held hands on the way in.